During the Urban Mobility Summit an event that brings together mobility enthusiasts in Nairobi, Uber launched the newly updated Uber Movement which now includes Uber Movement Speeds, a free data set within Uber Movement.
Uber Movement, which launched last year in Kenya is a digital data-sharing website to help urban planners, city leaders, third parties and the public to better understand the transportation needs of Nairobi.
Movement Speeds will allow cities to track vehicle speed and provide traffic speed data at the street segment and hourly level. Transportation planners will also have access to historical speed data so they can access the impact of the transportation infrastructure in the city and the functioning of the overall transportation network. Movement Speeds also includes dataset which allows users to filter data to view actual speed averages during specific time ranges, days of the week and time of the day.
Cezanne Maherali, Head of Policy for East Africa, Uber, had this to say, Congestion is a growing problem for cities around the world however with technology, cities can create a sustainable option to drive transportation systems around the world.” She also added, “With Uber Movement Speeds, we are reiterating our commitment to the city and city planners by making traffic data accessible to the cities that we are operating in and assist in solving traffic congestion and movement of people. With our technology, we aim to build efficient transport networks that will enhance mobility in the city of Nairobi and solve the vulnerability of the transport system.”
According to Uber, Movement Speeds is built with rider privacy in mind from the start. All data is aggregated and individual rider or driver data never disclosed. Kenyans can learn more about Uber’s approach in Uber’s FAQs and methodology white paper.